RPM Afterlife: The Other Families
by Lily Hanson
Summary: We all know what happened with Kaylee and the Rangers, but what about the other families? How are they getting along living in the domed cities of Corinth and NewTech?
1. Bradleys

_Author's Note: Good news is, I started writing the next chapter to Afterlife. Bad news, I lost motivation. Good news, I used the lack of motivation to come up with this. Everything should be explained in the summery, but just in case, this is going to be a series of oneshots focusing on the families you rarely see, such as the Bradleys, the Brooks, the James and the Watanabe family._

_I've got a my hands full with Afterlife and The Story Never Told, but this story will be my lack of motivation story. When I've got no ideas but I want to write, I'll focus on this._

_Let me know what you think!_

* * *

The beach was always the perfect place for the Bradley family, even though days at the beach would never be like they were before Venjix took over. The sun was artificial, the "ocean" was a lake with made-made waves for the surfers (Kaylee's idea) and the beach was always crowded on hot days.

Very, very crowded.

This was why the Bradleys always chose to go in the evening. The air was cooler, which made the water feel warmer and it wasn't as bright out, but it was definitely much easier for all four Bradleys.

Blake and Jason would bring their dirt bikes and ride around on the sand for a few hours to get some practice. The tracks were fun, but every once in a while it felt good for the father and son to mix it up a little and try something different. They also had the freedom to ride around anywhere, instead of around, and around.

Elena would lie in the wet sand, listening to the waves. Every once in a while she would feel the water reaching her butt, cooling her off and causing her to shiver slightly. But even though it was cold, it felt nice.

Tori was always in the water, keeping an eye on her daughter while she enjoyed being surrounded by her own element.

Up on the beach, the boys stopped their bikes and pulled off their helmets. They walked to the towels, dropping their equipment down. As Blake helped Jason get the last of his stuff off, her turned to the water.

"Tori, Elena, it's getting late!" he called to them. "We might wanna start heading home before the couples show up."

Elena jumped to her feet, "I don't care about them!" she cried. "I wanna stay here! Please!"

"You don't have to watch them make out!" Jason frowned. "Sometimes, I wish Mike dropped me in the puddle of goop."

Blake shook his head as he slapped Jason on the back of the head. In the water, Tori began swimming over, using her powers to push herself towards the shore. As she ran up, joining the rest of her family, she looked at Blake.

"I don't know, I think I agree with Elena this time," she said, looking back at the water as she dried her hair. "It's a nice night, the water's still pretty good. I think I can look past teenage hormones just this once."

"Mom…" Jason groaned, falling down on the towels. Elena was excited when she heard her mother agreeing with her. She grabbed her mother's hand and began pulling. Jason turned to his father, "Please, say no!"

Blake smiled at his son before turning back to his wife and daughter, about to say no, when he noticed they were both pulling off the look. Jason smacked his head with his hand, groaning once again.

"Jase," Blake said, "I can't say no! It's the double puppy face!"

"Just, turn your eyes away and think of dead puppies!" Jason said. Blake closed his eyes, trying to do as his son instructed, but it wasn't working. Not with Tori's fingers slowly making their way up his arm.

"C'mon, Blake," Tori whispered, "We can find that little spot no one knows about. The kids can make sandcastles and you and I can…"

Tori leaned in to whisper something in Blake's ear, but Jason stopped it. He put himself between his parents.

"Ew! None of that! Now I really want to go home!"

"None of what?" Elena asked. Tori wrapped her arm around her daughter as she looked down at Jason.

"I wasn't going to suggest that," she laughed.

"Then why were you going to whisper it?" Jason frowned.

"So you kids wouldn't know where we were."

"That's not very safe," Elena pointed out. "What if something happened to us… or to you? Or… what if Jason tried to shove sand in my bathing suit again?"

"We won't be far," Blake laughed. He turned to Tori, "Maybe we can stay a little while longer. What can it hurt?"

"My eyes!" Jason screamed, covering his eyes as he spotting the first couple arriving on the beach, hand in hand.

Blake placed his hand on his son's back, pushing him along as Tori gathered up the towels. The boys took their bikes, rolling them along in the sand, and Elena took care of the beach toys.

Blake and Tori led the way to a part of the beach that was isolated from the rest thanks to a large cave. This section of the beach was rather dangerous for people to visit, because when the tide was high the water would flood into the cave and anyone on the beach would get washed up into the ocean, but Tori's knowledge of the tide meant she knew exactly when the cave was safe to relax in, and when to clear out.

She laid the towels down and Elena dropped the toys.

"You two stick here, got it?" Tori said. She led her daughter deeper into the cave, where the sand was better for building castles. "If you need anything just shout. Your father and I will be able to hear you."

"We'll also be able to hear you if you try to shove sand down bathing suits," Blake said, pointing an accusing look at Jason. "Take care of your sister. We'll be back in an hour."

"A full hour?" Jason groaned, dropping onto the sand. "NO! I told Charlie I would be online for Deathkill 3! I'm already late!"

"Missing one hour won't kill you," Tori laughed. "No matter what the video game title might say."

"On the way home we can get ice cream," Blake promised. "Just, trust us, Jase. You're going to like the beach during the sunset."

Tori grabbed Blake's hand, pulling him away. "C'mon. We're going to be late for the sunset if we keep talking."

"One hour!" Jason yelled after his parents as they ran off. "And not a minute later!"

"Jason! Can you help me?" Elena called, holding up a bucket full of sand. Jason grumbled as he walked into the cave. He grabbed the bucket from his sister and flipped it in the sand, slowly pulling it out to make a castle for his sister.

"There, brat, a castle, happy?"

Elena reached out, gingerly touching the castle so it wouldn't break. She smiled as she turned in her brother's direction.

"It's perfect."

"Of course," He smirked, shrugging his shoulders slightly. "I'm a professional sandcastle builder, remember? I made you a fort with Uncle Ziggy last year."

"Oh yeah! It had stairs!"

"That's all you remember?"

"I couldn't see it, remember?"

"Right," Jason chuckled. "So, you've built your little castle. Now what do we do?"

Elena shrugged as he began pouring sand in her bucket again. "We could build another."

"We're not doing this for an hour," Jason frowned. He looked over his shoulder, where his mother and father disappeared. A smirk appeared on his face. "I've got a better idea."

"I don't like your tone…"

"What do you mean?"

"Every time you use that tone we get grounded for a week."

"I'm not using a tone…"

"Yes, you are! I can hear it!"

Jason grabbed his sister, pulling her in closer so he could whisper in her ear.

"Look, it's obvious mom and dad are hogging all the fun. I don't know what they're doing, but it's gotta be better than sitting here and dumping sand in a bucket."

"Parents don't have fun," Elena frowned. "They just sit around and talk."

"If parents don't have fun, why does Mike chose to hang out with them all the time and not us?" Jason asked. "There's got to be something going on that we don't know about."

"Didn't you already have that talk with dad?"

"NO! That's not what I'm talking about! ... Wait, I thought you didn't know about that yet."

"Aunt Kaylee and I talked."

"Oh."

"Are you saying we should follow them?" Elena asked her brother. Jason smiled and nodded.

"We're going to figure out what they're hiding from us."

"It's nothing, Jason."

"It's a spy mission! And it's better than me building a castle for you, and you getting all the credit."

Elena crossed her arms over her chest as she followed the sound of her brother's footsteps.

"Fine. It's not like I can see anything that's going to scar me for life. But if I hear one moan, I'm turning back."

"Don't worry, so am I."

-The-Other-Families-

Blake and Tori found their perfect spot on the beach, close to the kids just in case something happened, but far enough away so they were alone. Tori let go of Blake's hand and started running towards the water. Blake rolled his eyes.

"We're not doing this again, are we?" he asked her, walking towards the water. "You know I always catch you."

Tori turned around, jogging backwards in the water with a mischievous smirk on her face.

"This time, we're in the water," she grinned, turning around and diving under. Blake stepped in, so the water was up to his ankles, and scanned the water to see if he could spot Tori. Suddenly, he was soaked to the bone.

"Oh, you did not just…" Blake growled, wiping the water from his eyes as Tori popped out from the water, laughing. Once he could see again, Blake jumped for Tori, trying to grab her and take her down. Tori yelped, jumping out of the way just in time to avoid Blake, letting him land in the water with a splash. Tori laughed louder as Blake surfaces, struggling to get the water out of his nose. He suddenly turned on his wife, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her down. Tori screamed as she was pulled up the water.

She tried to come up for air, but Blake pushed her down as he surfaced. With her water powers, he didn't have to worry much about drowning her. If she was really struggling, she would just manipulate the water away. When he was satisfied with his revenge, he pulled her up. Tori glared at her husband. Blake noticed her cheeks were puffed.

"Oh, no!" he shouted as Tori spit water (and a bit of her own spit) in his face. For a moment, Blake wasn't sure if he should let her go to wipe his face off, or if he should just drag her under again. He decided to push her away, wiping his face quickly with one hand while the other struck the water, splashing Tori.

"Hey! Stop it!" Tori screamed as she was attacked by a shower of water coming at her non-stop. She was giggling so much, she could barely muster up the concentration required to fight back.

Suddenly, she heard a little voice shouting in her defence.

"Daddy! Stop splashing mommy!"

Tori turned away from Blake, letting the water hit her back. She looked at the beach and saw Elena was running for the water to help out.

"Elena, no, it's okay! Daddy and I are just playing!"

Elena stopped when she was in the water and frowned. She crossed her arms over her chest. Jason quickly joined her.

"See, Elle. I told you. Parents do hog all the fun! They're having a water fight without us!"

"You left us to make sand castles while you guys have a water fight!" Elena shouted, showing her parents how disappointed she was with the Hanson glare. The waters around her started to stir as her powers began acting up. Blake quickly took care of it, though, as he scooped his daughter up in his arms, then dumped her for a few seconds.

"Boys against girls!" Jason shouted, clinging to his mother, trying to take her down. Tori laughed as she tried to get her son to let go of her waist, but tripped over her own feet. She and Jason both crashed in the water as Elena and Blake surfaced.

"Jason, I got the little one! You take the big one!"

"The big one?" Tori screamed, turning to her husband. Jason and Elena both giggled as Blake's expression dropped. Tori picked up her son and tossed him in the water, before attacking her husband and sending him in the water.

"Daddy's in trouble now!" Elena laughed as the water from the splash hit both her and Jason in the face. Jason turned to his sister. Right now, he realised he could get his revenge for everything Elena and her blindness put him through. He had put his life on hold more times than he could remember for his little sister, and she had yet to thank him, or apologize for all the trouble she caused.

"You're going down, brat!"


	2. James

Usually Hannah adored her part time jobs. There was nothing she would rather do with her spare time than wait tables or make pizzas at JKP with her father, or repair bikes and work behind the counter at Storm Chargers with her mother.

Both her parents had to work long hours due to their career choices. RJ still didn't have many employees working for him. Casey, Lily and Theo had all left their jobs years ago when they started they started a family (or in Theo's case, went to school). When Fran and Dominic came back from their rather long vacation, they helped RJ out with the store for a few months, but soon quit as well, leaving RJ alone to run the parlour during Hannah's childhood.

Same thing happened with Kelly. Most of her employees were now long gone. Dustin quit his job at Storm Chargers a few years after serving as a Ranger. Blake was forced to quit the day he signed with Factory Blue. There was no way he could balance a part-time or full time job and a career. Hunter had to quit as well a few days after his Ranger career ended. Like his brother, he couldn't balance his career with a job at Storm Chargers.

For most of Hannah's life, bonding time with her parents consisted of being in their respective shops. For Kelly and RJ, it seemed everyday was _bring-your-daughter-to-work _day. They couldn't complain though. As difficult as it was to balance their own careers with their duties as a parent, having Hannah around helped their business. After all, the young girl grew up around pizza and extreme sport's equipment. When she was four, she was already helping her father carry desserts to certain tables. At five, she was helping Storm Charger customers buy the right helmet or protective equipment. Other parents thought she was adorable, and loved coming back just to watch her help out. Some other customers loved challenging her knowledge, and continued to return to either JKP or Storm Chargers to ask her about items on the menu, or the tools in Storm Chargers.

When Hannah was legally allowed to begin working, RJ and Kelly were very grateful to pull her on board. After all, hiring their own daughter meant they didn't need to waste their time with interviews, or ask around for references from teachers or go through the endless hours of training. Hannah already knew what to do, when to do it and how to do it. It was all second nature to her. Bake pizzas, take them to the table. Help customers find the item they're looking for, ring it up.

Though the perks of working for your parents were great, what Hannah loved most about her job was what came after.

Hannah loved working with her father because as soon as closing time came, RJ would flip the sign, lock the doors, and the father and daughter would start cleaning the store. To Hannah, this was never a chore. Her father was one of the most interesting and creative men she knew. He had found many different ways to have fun while cleaning the tables. Hannah's favourite games consisted of squirting every table with the cleaner and dividing the store in half. First person to clean their half of the store gets to watch and laugh as the loser cleans the opposite gender's restroom.

Hannah loved it, because she took after her mother. In any game, sport or activity, she was champion, and RJ always found himself cleaning the women's washroom and squealing when he would be forced to clean the sanitary disposal unit.

Working with her mother was another story completely. Cleaning the store was a job Kelly always took seriously, and Hannah hated it. However, once everything was clean, items needed to be put away.

This was always fun. Customers were terrible at putting this away where they found them. Hannah would find gloves with the helmets, helmet with the shoes, shoes with the surfboard wax and surfboard wax…

Well, everywhere.

Because the store was in such disarray at the end of every night, it was tiring to walk back and forth trying to locate the proper items. What Hannah and Kelly did was toss everything, hoping to land it back in its proper bucket (if it belonged in a bucket), or hang up the items on the shelf. And all this would have to be done before the buzzer went off.

Hannah and Kelly would also divide the work. Hannah would organize the front of the store, and Kelly would organize the back. Whoever finished first would get their choice of one of the two skateboards Kelly kept in the back. Whoever didn't finish before the buzzer went off didn't get a board at all.

The last part of closing up consisted of cleaning the dirt marks off the floors. A long time ago, Kelly and Hannah had discovered that it was easier to clean the floors with the skateboard, because you simply had to roll over to the next patch of dirt and whip it clean. What made this last game so fun though, was that both boards used were broken. One, no matter what you tried, wouldn't turn, and the other had a wheel that wouldn't spin. Kelly and Hannah would laugh for hours as they tried to clean.

However, tonight wasn't one of these nights. Hannah wasn't working at JKP with her father. Tonight, there would be no race to clean the parlour.

She wasn't working with her mother either. Kelly had caught a terrible virus a few weeks ago and had been in bed sick ever since. For a while, Storm Chargers had been closed, with a notice to customers that it would open up again soon. But Kelly wasn't feeling any better.

RJ knew it was important to open up Storm Chargers again. With two businesses to support, the James family needed to bring in the money. JKP was a very popular store, so for a while it could support the family and pay the bills for Storm Chargers, but RJ was starting to stretch his luck, and customers were getting very impatient.

With Kelly's consent, he reopened the store. However, he was needed back at JKP. He couldn't run the shop and neither could Kelly.

The job belonged to Hannah.

Everything had gone smoothly. Most customers knew Hannah very well, and when they heard the news that she was covering for her sick mother, they had no problems with the fact that a seventeen year old was temporary manager of the store. Some of them even wished her mother well and gave her a generous tip for all her hard work and dedication.

But the end of the day was near and Hannah began to worry. Of all days for her father to choose to reopen the store, he had to do it on the day Storm Chargers was open late: Friday. Most sporting events happened on the Saturday (Kaylee's law. It helped keep many athletes in school during the school year), so Fridays, parents and athletes were rushing in at the last minute to purchase whatever they needed for Saturday. Kelly had decided, many years ago, that to help these customers, as well as earn more money, Storm Chargers would close at midnight.

Hannah bit her lip nervously as she looked up at the clock. Five minutes left until she could lock the doors.

She turned to windows to gaze outside. There wasn't a single customer left in the store, and she wanted to be sure that no one would come in last minute.

It was dark outside. Very dark. The lights in the parking lot were flickering on and off. Cars traveling along the streets were few and far between now that most people were tucked into their beds.

Hannah turned away from the window at focused her attention on the mess in the store. Cleaning it up wouldn't be the same without her mother. Tossing items into baskets wasn't fun when there was no one to poke fun at you when you failed. And how much fun could riding a broken skateboard be when there was no one to laugh with you.

Hannah let out a long sigh. She rested her head in her hands and began to count the row of shelves.

Six. There were six rows.

She turned to the clock. Two minutes had passed. She groaned again, about to let her head fall on the counter when she heard a soft bang. She jumped up. Her heart was racing as she looked around the store, trying to see if maybe a customer had snuck in while she had been checking the clock.

She noticed a helmet had fallen off its hanger. This usually happened. Customers didn't know how to put them away properly and slowly but surely they would slide off and crash to the ground.

Hannah walked over to the helmet and picked it up. She checked to make sure the shell wasn't cracked before putting it back where it belonged.

Suddenly, she felt very uncomfortable. She was alone in this store, in the middle of the night. The sign on the door read open. Anyone could come inside, and at this time of night, anyone truly meant _anyone_.

Hannah rushed back behind the counter, pressing her back against the wall. She looked at the phone and for a minute wondered if she could call her father and ask him to close JKP up early.

She shook her of that though. One more minute and Storm Chargers would be closed. Once the doors were locked, and the windows were covered, Hannah wouldn't have to worry about anything. Hannah chose to put her mind at rest by heading over to the door. By the time she reached it, it would be time to lock up.

She slowly moved away from the wall and stepped towards the door. Just as she turned the lock to close up the shop, a man jumped out of the darkness, hitting the glass door. Hannah screamed and jumped back in terror.

"One thing!" the man said, holding up one finger to show Hannah. "It'll only be a minute!"

Hannah shook her head, "I'm sorry, sir. We're closed."

The man pulled back his sleeve, showing Hannah his watch.

"It's 11:58 on my time."

"Well, it's…" Hannah turned to check her clock and groaned as she watched it change to midnight. Technically, this man had arrived before the store was closed and he could file a complaint for not being allowed inside because Hannah closed the doors early.

But Hannah had a bad feeling about letting this man in. Maybe it was because he had jumped out of nowhere and almost made her wet herself, or maybe it was because Hannah wasn't used to being alone so late at night in an empty store without either parent.

"Please, kid. I'll even pay you from here. I just need some gloves. Look, I have the money!"

The man flashed a fifty dollar bill. Hannah turned to her till. Maybe if she lied and told him she had no change left, he would go away.

"I'm sorry. The till's been counted half an hour ago. After 11:30 it's policy that we only accept debit or credit."

"What kind of a stupid policy is that?" the man frowned. "Look, my son has a race tomorrow and I need gloves for him!"

"We open up at 7:00 tomorrow morning. You can stop by then and pay with your fifty."

"But I need to get them now!"

"I'm really sorry, sir…"

"You locked up early? Look kid, what will it hurt if you let me in? If you hadn't of locked up early, I would be inside anyways."

"I locked up a few seconds…"

"Kid, let me in."

Now Hannah felt really uncomfortable. She shook her head.

"I can't, sir."

"Open the damn door and let me buy the fucking gloves!"

Hannah could only think of one thing to do. She turned around and started running to the back room.

"MOM!" she screamed, loud enough so the man could hear her on the other side of the door. Hannah knew her mother wasn't in the back room, or even in the store for that matter, but she knew the man wasn't aware of that fact. She hoped, even prayed, that even the thought that there was someone else in the store would scare this man away.

She disappeared behind the door for a second and waited to see if this man would call her on her bluff. The store fell completely silent. After a minute, Hannah started to make her way back to the front of the shop.

As her hand touched the doorknob her ears picked up a sound. After years of training with her father, Hannah's ears were sensitive to even the smallest of noises. She felt her stomach turn and her heart stop. She heard a click and the front door of the store opening slowly.

He was inside.

Hannah stepped back slowly, hugging herself as she did. Now there was nowhere to run. Hopefully, if she stayed in the back, he would grab what he wanted and leave. Ideally he would leave the fifty, but Hannah could only assume that if this man broke into the store, he wasn't about to pay and leave change.

Hannah was about to start sobbing when she heard a hard cough. Hannah carefully moved towards the door and opened it ever so slightly. She peeked through the small crack and saw someone moving around the store, putting things away.

Another cough pulled Hannah out of her fear. She opened the door, causing the person to look up and smiled.

"There you are, sweetie," Kelly smiled, her voice rather hoarse. Hannah let out a long breath of relief.

"What are you doing here?" she asked her mother.

Kelly frowned, "Just because I'm sick, doesn't mean I'm going to let my seventeen year old daughter close up the store alone in the middle of the night. Do you know how many creeps and jackasses come at this time?"

Hannah nodded, "I can imagine."

"I would have been here sooner," Kelly said, "but I threw up getting out of bed."

"Why didn't you call dad?" Hannah asked.

"I'll be fine," Kelly smiled. "It's just a bad bug. And do you really think your father knows how to clean this place properly?"

Hannah took her mother's hand and gently pulled, "You can go over to the couches and rest. I'll…"

Kelly stopped dead in her tracks when Hannah touched her hand. Hannah felt shaky, and her grip was stronger than normal; almost like she was trying to hold on tight to her mother. Kelly looked down at her daughter's face and noticed she was pale. Her eyes were Kelly's final clue that something was wrong. They weren't shining brightly like they normally were, but moving around the store, checking every corner once, twice, three times.

"Hannah," Kelly said softly, adjusting her hand so she was holding her daughter. Hannah looked up at her mother, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," Hannah nodded. "Now go to the couches. Please mom, you're sick."

"I'm fine, sweetie," Kelly said. She looked down at her daughter again, "Hannah, did something happen?"

Hannah shook her head, "If you say you're fine then I'm fine."

"I'm not playing, Han," Kelly frowned. Hannah sighed.

"There was a man…"

"The man I saw running away from the store?" Kelly asked. Hannah nodded slowly.

"I closed up a few seconds early and he wanted to come in. I told him no, because I didn't feel right about it and he started yelling."

Kelly pulled her daughter in for a hug. "You did the right thing, sweetie."

As she held her daughter close, Kelly looked over her shoulder at the door. She had seen the man running away from the store and though nothing of it, especially when she had to use her key to get in. She figured he had simply tried to open the door, found it was locked and was racing back to his car.

Hannah suddenly pulled away when Kelly coughed again.

"Mom, go get some rest. I'll clean up."

Kelly couldn't leave her daughter. Not after what happened. Even if she was going to be in the same room while Hannah cleaned, she couldn't fall asleep knowing her daughter was terrified.

"I can't rest," Kelly smirked. "Who's going to kick your ass in the floor cleaning contest?"

Hannah smirked, "Can we set the buzzer for five minutes this time?" she asked. "I want to get out of here fast."

Kelly nodded. The buzzer was normally set for ten minutes, but tonight she was going to make an exception.

"Perfect," she said. "That'll give us enough time to complete our race and we'll be able to head over to JKP before your father closes up."

"We get to watch him clean the woman's washroom?" Hannah smiled, forgetting about the incident. Kelly nodded.

"I've got leftover candy in the car from when your father lied to me and took you to the movies."

Hannah chuckled nervously, "About that…"

Kelly suddenly pulled away from Hannah and set the timer on the buzzer. Hannah shook her head and laughed as her mom got a head start on organizing her half of the store.

This is what Hannah loved about her jobs; spending quality time with her parents. Working past close was really the only alone time she got with either her mother or father, and she enjoyed every minute of it.


	3. Watanabe

Leanne walked into the front door of her home looking completely devastated. It was easy to tell that something was upsetting her deeply. Her mood was glum, her eyes were red and swollen and she seemed completely spaced out.

She had just gotten off work. Normally after a long day at the hospital she would come home, put her feet up and relax with her family before starting on dinner. But today was no ordinary day. Today a patient had been rushed into ER and it was Leanne's job to make sure he would live. She had led the surgery to try and save his life and after hours trying to fix and patch him up, she had been unsuccessful.

She knew the day would come. Doctors and nurses were always talking about it in the staff room, and it happened to everyone. The day you lost your first patient. Some experienced it indirectly. They would be assigned to tend to a patient, and then when he would go into surgery he wouldn't make it out. It was nothing they did to cause the death, but it was still one of their patients.

Some, like Leanne, were responsible for the death. The life of that one patient rested solely in her hands and she failed to save him. The other doctors and nurses assured her that she had done everything she could, but nothing could ease the pain. David had told her to go home right after the surgery. He had already lost a patient before, and knew there was no way she would be able to keep her head, and it would be in everybody's best interest if she took the day off.

She had technically lost a patient before. She had been one of the doctors who tried to save Samantha's life almost 22 years ago. This was a totally different experience for her though. It was one thing failing to save an unborn child. It was another thing to watch as life slipped away, right before your eyes and not on a monitor.

Before leaving the hospital parking lot she spent a good hour sitting in her car, crying like she had never cried before. She had lost both her parents and all four grandparents but found this death to be too much to bear. She was young when her grandparents and her mother died, and there was nothing she could do to save them. Their fate was out of her hands.

Her father died long before she found out about it, and even with her medical expertise (and her PhD in everything) there was nothing she could do for her father. She had performed some miracles in her career, but she had never brought a dead body back to life.

This pain was different from the rest. She had the chance to save this patient and she had failed. She let him down, she let his family down, she let her team down and she let herself down.

When she looked back, she saw many things she could have done differently. Instead of focusing on his oxygen levels, she could have made sure her patient was getting enough new blood. Instead of focusing on his more severe injuries, she could have tended to the minor one (which wound up being worse than she thought, considering it was that that killed him).

Bad choices and bad timing were her mistakes. She could have gotten to him sooner; she could have done something else. Because of her, he was dead.

Maddie rushed down the stairs when she heard her mom was home from work early. Just as she reached the last one, she noticed there was something wrong with her mother. Carefully, she stepped forward.

"Mom, are you okay?"

Leanne shook her head, "Go get ready for dinner."

Maddie watched her mom head for the kitchen. Her father was already in there, putting dinner in the oven. He would notice that her mother wasn't okay and he would ask questions as well. Maddie followed her mother into the kitchen, deciding to corner her and get her to talk.

"Leanne?" Cam frowned when he saw his wife, "What's wrong?"

Leanne sat down at the kitchen table, propping her head up with her hands as she tried to hold back the tears.

"Nothing."

Maddie turned to look at her father, "That doesn't look like nothing."

He nodded, "Maybe you should go wash up. Dinner's gonna be…"

"I wanna help," Maddie insisted. "Last time mom was like this was when Grandpa died…"

Maddie quickly turned to her mother, panicked, "Uh-oh, Grandpa Kanoi didn't die, did he?"

"No, no," Leanne shook her head, "He's fine… he's still very healthy."

"Well, then, what is it, honey?" Cam asked, pulling up a chair and taking a seat beside his wife. He wrapped one arm around her and gently rubbed her arm with his hand. "You can tell us. Hard day at work?"

Maddie sat down in her chair, "Did someone die at work?"

Leanne really began to tear up as she nodded, "I couldn't save him."

Maddie's eyes widened when she realised she was right and she had to take a moment to let the news sink in. Cam squeezed Leanne comfortingly as he pulled her into his arms, holding her close as she started to cry.

"Leah, I'm so sorry."

"I had to save him and I couldn't!" Leanne cried.

Maddie leaned forward slightly, "What killed him?"

"Madeline!" Cam shouted. She pulled back again, shrugging.

"What? I'm trying to get mom to talk! You always tell me…"

"He was in a car accident," Leanne said. "Puncture lung, broken bones, blood…"

"Ew."

"He sounds beat up," Cam whispered. Leanne nodded.

"He was… but I've done it a million times before! I… I could have saved him!"

"You can't save everyone," Cam told her.

"Yeah, mom," Maddie said, reaching out to grab one of her mother's hands. "You help so many people already. You can't save the whole wide world. You did the best you could."

"No, I didn't…"

"What makes you say that?" Cam asked her. Leanne always put her best effort into her work, no matter what it was. While studying for her many degrees, she never received a grade below A-. When training her students at the Thunder Ninja Academy she always put in extra hours to help some students who were falling behind. Even in her duties as a parent she put her best effort in. Madeline was already walking at eight months because of Leanne's determination. She was talking before she was one.

"I shouldn't have ignored the cut on his chest," Leanne said. "It was right there… but there was… it's wasn't as bad as the rest… if I focused on it…."

"You didn't know," Cam said, holding her close. "You made what you thought was the right choice at the time. There's no way you could have known that that small injury…"

"That's my job, Cam!" Leanne screamed, scaring both her family members. She pulled out of Cam's arms, glaring hatefully at him, "It's my job to know what's wrong with the patients and fix them! I can't excuse myself because I didn't know about a small cut… on his chest, for crying out loud! That's where his heart is! I should have…"

"But you said there was other stuff," Maddie pointed out fearfully. She wanted to help her mother, but Leanne seemed enraged. The last thing Maddie wanted was her mother screaming at her. "At first glance that cut seemed almost harmless, and there were other injuries and things to deal with, you had to focus on those."

"Maddie's right," Cam nodded. "He was in the ER, right? You have to work quickly there. You can't second guess yourself. Every second counts. You did what you thought was right. This guy… I guess there was nothing that could have been done."

"I could have…"

"If you focused on that one cut, something else might have killed him," Cam whispered before Leanne could finish. He took her hands gently and looked her in the eyes. "I know you, Leanne. I know you did everything you possibly could to try and save that man's life. It just wasn't meant to be."

Leanne's tears started up again as she fell back into Cam's arms, weeping loudly.

"It wasn't a man," she said between the sobs. "It was kid! A thirteen year old child! He died, today!"

Cam held his wife comfortingly, brushing her hair as he tried to calm her down. He glanced over at Madeline, just to look at her.

Maddie was shocked to hear that her mother's first death was a boy her age. She slowly got out of her chair and walked over to her mother, wrapping her arms around her in a hug. Cam pulled her in closer as well, holding his two girls in his arms. He leaned down, whispering into Leanne's ear: "You can't save the world. You did your best. I'm sure his family appreciates you trying everything possible."

-The-Other-Families-

A week had passed and Leanne had refused to come back into work. It wouldn't benefit anyone if she did return to the hospital in her state. It was unfortunate that her first death was a child and it had taken a lot out of her.

Most of her co-workers understood, and told her to take the time she needed. A few of them did seem to have a problem with her missing out on work but did realise this wasn't easy to cope with and gave her the space she needed.

Madeline had gone out of her way to make sure her mother was okay. Though she always found all her schoolwork to be incredibly easy, this week she had asked her mother for help to try and take her mind off the young boy. It did help Leanne a little bit, and Maddie was happy to do her part.

Cam was always home from work as soon as he could so he could be with Leanne. He was exhausted from going to work and staying up with Leanne when she had nightmares, but he knew that soon she would come to accept that she couldn't save every life and she would be back to her old self.

In NewTech people were still talking about the unfortunate accident. Of course, when a child is killed, the news hurts a lot of people. Maddie heard about it constantly at her school because the poor child had been a student there. The school held a memorial, and some kids and parents who found out that Maddie's mom was the doctor who tried to save the boy had offered Maddie their condolences (after offering it to the family of the boy, of course).

Leanne was helping Maddie with her math homework again when the door rang. She let Madeline finish up the question on her own (because she knew that her daughter didn't actually need the help) while she went to answer it. When she opened the door she immediately recognised the family of the young boy who she tried and failed to save.

"Excuse me… are you Dr. Leanne Watanabe?" the boy's father asked. Leanne shook her head slowly.

Maddie could hear this from the living room and got up to be with her mother.

The boy's mother was holding a young boy in her arms, presumably her other son. She had a few stitches on her forehead and bruises along her arm which didn't surprise Leanne. She had been the one driving the car that the boy was in when he had his accident.

"We went to the hospital today to try and talk to you, but the lady at the counter said you were home sick," she said.

Maddie took her mother's hand, squeezing it gently as she looked up at the family, "If you're asking for answers it's…"

"We wanted to thank you," the father said.

Maddie frowned, "That's a little mean."

"For doing all you could," the mother added. "We were told that there was a very small chance that Julian survived."

"We also wanted to apologize," the father said. "When we were first told that Julian died we said and thoughts some pretty nasty things about you. We were just so devastated and… it wasn't right."

"We heard you've been pretty upset about this too and that Julian was the first patient you've ever lost and… we just wanted to let you know that we don't blame you," the mother said. "We know you did everything you could and we're really thankful you tried so hard. Not many doctors would stick around as long as you did."

"I couldn't let him die…" Leanne muttered. "I just… he… I'm really sorry."

"It's okay," the father smiled. "It's not easy but we'll learn to live again."

"And if ever we know someone who needs a good doctor we'll definitely refer them to you," the mother said.

"I… I don't know if I'm going back…" Leanne admitted, surprising herself, her daughter and Julian's family.

"Oh, well… if you do…" the mother said. One last time, she thanked Leanne for trying to save her son's life before heading back to the car. Julian's father shook Leanne's hand. Before he left, Leanne apologized once again for the loss of their son. As their car pulled out of the driveway, Cam pulled in. He saw the family leaving and asked Madeline about it when he got inside the house. She told him it was Julian's family, and she also told him about what Leanne had said. She might not go back to work.

Cam found his wife sitting on the couch and took the spot next to her, wrapping her in his arms, like he did every night since the incident.

"I hear you might quit."

"I could have save him. He had his entire life ahead of him. Parents who loved him and a little brother… he didn't… I should have…"

"Don't quit, mom," Maddie said. "You're one of the best doctors there is."

"I can't guarantee this won't happen again," Cam nodded, "But before it does, you're going to save so many lives. A lot of people are counting on you. If you don't go back…"

"I don't think I can. What if…"

"C'mon, mom," Maddie smiled, "No what ifs. What if the sky turns orange? What if I grow feathers and fly to the moon? You can what if everything… but what if a patient needs you and you're not there?"

"Don't let this one bump drag you down," Cam said. "Don't let the kid…"

"Julian."

"Don't let Julian die in vain. Get back in that hospital and do what you do best. Save lives! You'll be letting a lot of people down if you don't."

Leanne looked at her husband and daughter and smiled softly.

-The-Other-Families-

A week later, Leanne returned home from work with takeout bags in her hands and a bright smile on her face. She walked into the kitchen and found Cam staring at an open fridge, trying to figure out what to make for dinner.

"Don't bother," she kissed him on the cheek before setting the bags on the counter. "I picked something up. I figure today deserves a special meal."

"How was your first day back?" Cam asked his wife, noticing that, just above her ID, she had a "J" sticker stuck on to her white coat.

"My day was great!" Leanne beamed. Maddie stepped into the kitchen and was immediately put off by the smile on her mother's face. She hadn't seen it that big in a while and it scared her.

"I'll eat in my room…"

"Sit down," Leanne said, pointing to the kitchen table. "We're eating together and I'm going to talk about my day."

"Did something good happen?" Cam asked. Maddie looked up at him.

"I think she might have killed someone," she whispered, "That smile is anything but innocent."

"There were two people today in the ER, both of them in critical condition."

Maddie nodded to her father, "See? She killed someone."

Leanne continued her story, "I saved them both!"

"What?" Cam gasped, nearly dropping his plate as he went to hug his wife, "Leanne, that's amazing!"

"I know! After what happened with Julian I didn't want to make a single mistake. I made sure every problem was accounted for and didn't let anything get past my radar through the entire surgery. I had a great team with me. Five hours and three hundred and seventy-four stitches later these two patients are stable and recovering!"

"Three hundred and seventy-four… is this on both guys?" Maddie asked.

"Combined, yes," Leanne nodded.

"Whatever they were doing, I don't ever want to do it."

"So, in one day these guys are fine again?" Cam asked. Leanne smiled.

"Well, something might still go wrong. They'll be in hospital for some time still, but right now it's all looking good."

"And just think; if you had quit who would have been there to help those two patients?"

Leanne hugged her husband, "Thank you so much for talking me back into going to work and for supporting me after the thing with Julian. It really means a lot."

Cam kissed her softly, "Anytime."

Madeline cleared her throat, "Excuse me? Who took your mind off your problems and wasted her own time by asking you to help with her homework when she could have done it on her own in half the time?"

Leanne smiled, kissing her daughter's cheek, "Thank you, Madeline. Your support meant a lot too."

"Thank you," Maddie said. "Now can I eat my burger upstairs?"

"Sit, be happy with me. I want to celebrate and tell you all about today."

Maddie groaned as she sat down at the table with her family and listened to the triumphant story of how her mother saved two patients. She was happy her mother was back in action, but if she had to hear another hospital story there would be another patient in ER.


	4. Brooks

Christian looked around the large playground. A number of boys and girls were running around aimlessly, screaming. Some were running away from something, and others were running towards something. Some were running together, and some were running into each other. There was laughter, screaming, shouting and a lot of other noises coming from Christian's class-mates, all of which made him very uneasy.

To add to the strange atmosphere, Christian was trapped on the playground. Surrounding him was a fence that stopped just above his head, keeping him and the other kids trapped inside, and the older, taller kids trapped outside. Some of the older girls were standing by the fence, looking in at all the little kids running around, and Christian could hear some of them cooing very loudly and calling out to every little kid that they found cute. There were some boys who were staring into the caged playground, cheering on the little boys when they pushed or shoved their friend. Some of the more social little boys even went up to the bigger boys to receive high-fives for knocking down their friends.

Christian clutched his backpack close to his chest. His father had dropped him off and was told to leave him in the kindergarten playground. Dustin had been assured that every kid would get to their classroom no problem.

That was the last Christian saw of his father. Now here he was, at school, all alone.

He had never been surrounded by kids his age. His sisters were much, much older than he was, and most of his cousins were as well. The only cousin he knew who came close to his age was Elena, though she was still six years older than he was.

There was Engel, his niece, but she was two years younger. When Christian was with her he was the big boy, she was the little girl.

Christian made his way across the playground, trying to find somewhere quiet to hide until the teachers called him into class. As he crossed the pavement, a few kids ran right into him, knocking him off balance, but never knocking him down. He heard a few of the older girls calling his name. He was the Commander's youngest child and only son; of course they would know his name and want his attention. Christian simply ignored them though as he began to run away.

On the other side of the playground, just by the fence, was a little bench that all the kids used for their backpacks. Christian claimed a spot and sat there, holding his bag on his lap, hugging it tightly against his chest. Inside were his favourite blanket and a small pillow his mother bought him for nap time. He couldn't wait until he got inside so he could hide underneath it and wait for his father to pick him up from this zoo.

As he continued to watch his classmates run around like wild animals, his eyes fell upon another boy who was just arriving. The boy was clinging to his father's leg, like Christian had done. While the dad talked to one of the teachers on duty, the boy was looking around, terrified. Suddenly, his father picked him up and carried him onto the playground. Christian continued to watch until the father set his son down on the bench, right beside Christian.

"Okay, sport, just put your bag down here and go find some nice kids to play with," the father said to his son before kissing him on the forehead. "You're going to have a great first day, I promise. And when you come home this afternoon you'll have a little surprise waiting for you."

"Okay daddy," the little boy nodded before his father abandoned him. The boy sat beside Christian, clutching his bag. Slowly, he turned to Christian, "Hi…"

Christian smiled nervously, "Hi."

"What's your name?" the boy asked.

"Christian. I'm three, but I'm almost four!"

"I'm Hayden. I turned four a long time ago."

Christian began to laugh. This boy had the same name as his sister.

"You have a girl's name," he teased. Hayden frowned.

"No I don't!" he shouted. "It's a boy name!"

"My sister is called Hayden," Christian said.

"Your sister has a boy name," Hayden frowned.

Christian nodded. He couldn't argue with that logic. Maybe this Hayden boy was right. Maybe his parents did give his sister a boy name.

"I have a brother," Hayden said. "Do you have a brother?"

Christian shook his head, "Only two sisters. They're both really big and they could beat up your brother."

"No!" Hayden said. "My brother's 11."

"Sammy is 21," Christian smirked. He won.

"My brother's name is Sammy!" Hayden cried out excitedly. "Daddy calls him Sam, though, and sometimes my mommy calls him Samuel, but only when she's mad."

"Do you have a sister?" Christian asked. He had always wanted a brother, and was envious of Hayden. At least if he had a sister they would have a little more in common. Hayden nodded.

"Yeah. I have a baby sister. She's one. She sucks, though. I don't like her."

"What is her name?" Christian asked. He wished he could be a big brother. He liked having a niece, but he knew that wasn't the same. At least if one of his sisters was younger than him, he could boss them around.

"Christina," Hayden smirked. Suddenly he reached out, tapping Christian's arm, "Tag, you're it."

Hayden jumped up and ran as far away from Christian as possible. Christian watched him run off, a little hurt before realising they were playing a game together. He hopped off the bench, forgetting his bag beside the fence as he chased after his new friend. When he finally caught Hayden they standing in front of the wall. Christian reached out and tapped him on the arm.

"Tag, you're it!"

Suddenly a bell rang and all the kids began running for the door. Christian and Hayden looked around, disappointed their game was over.

The kindergarten teachers started calling for names, trying to gets the three and four year olds all lined up in two rows so they could be taken to their respective classes. Hayden and Christian listened carefully.

"Christian Brooks!" the teacher with the blouse and glasses called as she pointed to the end of her line. Christian looked at Hayden.

"I hope you're in my class," he said. Hayden nodded before hearing his name.

"Hayden Crooks!" the same teacher called out. Christian smiled as Hayden joined him in line. When Hayden was settled with his bag on his back, he tapped Christian's shoulder.

"You're my new best friend," he whispered.

Suddenly, the big playground didn't seem so scary for Christian, and neither did the jungle of savage children still screaming and running around, ignoring the teachers who were trying to get them to quiet down. He had made a friend.

When all the kids were lined up, the two classes started going their separate ways. As Christian watched the kids from the other class leaving him, he looked over his shoulder and saw his new best friend. His lips curled into a smile.

School really was fun.


End file.
